Regulation Impact Statement – Attorney-General’s Department
On 26 June 2015, the Attorney-General and the Minister for Communications released an exposure draft of the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015. The bill proposes to amend the Telecommunications Act 1997 to provide for a more effective regulatory framework for managing national security risks to Australia’s telecommunication networks. Australia’s governments, businesses and the broader community are increasingly storing and communicating large amounts of information across telecommunications networks and facilities. The framework addresses the need for these networks and facilities to be protected from increasingly sophisticated national security risks. In particular, from the vulnerabilities arising from the global supply chain for telecommunications equipment and services, or the outsourcing of sensitive network management functions. The proposed legislation will require telecommunication carriers, carriage service providers and carriage service intermediaries (C/CSPs) to protect their networks from unauthorised access and interference. It will also provide government with new regulatory powers to request information and to issue directions to help promote compliance. It will formalise and enhance existing information sharing and relationships between Government and C/CSPs to ensure greater consistency, transparency and accountability for managing national security risks across all parts of the telecommunications sector. A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was prepared by the Attorney-General’s Department and assessed as compliant and consistent with best practice by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR). The RIS estimates the average annual additional regulatory cost to be $220,000 a year and identifies offsets. The OBPR has agreed to the regulatory cost and offset estimates.